Back to School Meal Prep

Is anyone else craving the fall like I am? It’s still about 90 degrees in Charleston. But the calendar is telling me that the weather should be cooling down (wishful thinking)!

This time of year is my favorite! It means apples, pumpkin spice everything, and back to school shopping! Turner starts school on Monday which will get us in full-on schedule mode! I’ve enjoyed the summer, but I’m really looking forward to the change of seasons with our kiddos this year! To help with back-to-school time and to honor my love of all things fall, I wanted to share a few of my fall favorites and a recipe game plan that will help organize your upcoming week!

The beauty of this meal game-plan is that you can customize it based on your family size. AND you are only buying two types of meat for the week: chicken and ground turkey (or beef)! A lot of the ingredients you probably have on hand so you should just need a few items from the grocery store. So browse through each recipe and plan your grocery list accordingly. See my time-saver tips below to make dinner making a breeze!

Time Saver Tips:

Make ahead as much as you can over the weekend so you’re prepared for the week.

Weekend Prep: Put 4 chicken breasts in a crock pot with salt and pepper on each side. Add water halfway up the side of the chicken and cook on low for 4 hours. Shred chicken and store in an airtight container in the fridge for all of your meals!

Use pre-packaged stir-fy veggies in a bag in the produce section for the teriyaki chicken dish.

Make meatballs ahead as they’re just as delicious, if not better, when re-heated!

Now that we have the meal plan out of the way, let’s talk fall favorites. Here are a few of my favorite things!

Pumpkin Cupcake candle (use offer code BX5XG2 for $5 off): I have bought several of these candles. Every scent I try is amazing! They have a hidden ring inside which is always fun. You can apparently win a ring up to $5000 although I have yet to win one.

Pumpkin Banana Bread: I tried this recipe a few weeks ago and it was amazing! I added chocolate chips. It’s a must!

Toddler Backpack: I ordered this for Turner for school. His other backpack was too small and the LL Bean ones are huge and super expensive! This fits his style, is the perfect size, and is super affordable!

Thieves Essential Oil: More on that in a separate post (recipes and labels coming soon)! I diffuse this in Turner’s room to keep the germs away once school starts!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend! Hopefully some of these tips and tricks will help make your week a little easier!